


Cataclysm

by Ninjasofthenight



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: Apocalypse, F/M, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-05-22 00:30:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6063961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjasofthenight/pseuds/Ninjasofthenight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiloh was in a car accident that left her in a comma for two months. During those two months the zombie apocalypse started and by the time Shiloh woke up, the world she knew is long gone. Now she's by herself, but pretty soon she'll come across a group of survivors who may have a cure for the disease, and that cure is in the bloodstream of a guy named Murphy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just something that I thought about while I was at school. I will be adding more chapters whenever I can, but enjoy the first chapter.

Two bright lights coming towards her rapidly, the squealing of tires as the driver desperately tried to stop before his vehicle connected with hers, and that’s all she remembered before everything went black. If Shiloh had known that the world she had lived in, that everything she owned and everyone she knew, was gone by the time the swelling in her brain decreased, and she was able to rise out of the coma when the moment appeared and she could finally open her eyes and go back to normal function, she would not have fought so hard each and every day after the car accident to remain alive. Shiloh thought that, when she opened her eyes, she would be surrounded by her family waiting for her to wake up. They would be standing there, bright smiles spread out across their lips, tears welling up in the corners of their eyes as she asked them where she was at, the first words that came out of her mouth after months of being silent, and then her mother and father rushing at her to embrace her in a hug. It would be one of those reunions that you saw in movies after someone was in an accident and their family came to see them. When Shiloh did open her eyes however, everything that she had thought would happen didn’t.  
  
The room is bathed in a dull, grey light thanks to the thick, heavy curtains that blocked out most of the sunlight from reaching inside the room. Blinking a couple of times so that her eyes could adjust, she looked around before pulling the thick blanket that had been placed over her at some point to the side and swung her legs around so that they dangled over the edge of the bed. “Hello?” Her own voice startled her, when it came out raspy and weak. Shiloh waited for a few minutes, confused, straining her ears towards the door for any sounds outside the room she was in, but there was nothing. When no one came Shiloh took matters into her own hands. Never was she one to simply wait for someone else to come to her aid. “Okay Shiloh, you can do this.” She whispered to herself as she glanced down to her hands and arms. Quickly she ripped off the sticky heart monitors off her chest and pulled out the iv needle from the back of her hand. Once she was disconnected from the monitors that Shiloh now realized, had been turned off, she took in a deep breath.  
  
A dark stained, wooden door stood only feet from her hospital bed and Shiloh knew that it was the bathroom. If she could make it there, get some water and quench her parched throat, she’d be heading in a good direction. Reaching out to her side, she grabbed the iv stand and took note that the bag had long been dried of the clear liquid that had once been pumped into her body as a hydration source, and rolled it in front of her. _How long have I been out and why was everything turned off and the iv bag bone dry?_ Questions started to form inside her mind and Shiloh knew that something wasn’t right. Pushing the thought away for the moment, she gathered what little strength she could muster and pushed herself into a standing position. Her legs nearly caved out from underneath her and her grip tightened on the stand. Standing there, slouched over with her legs trembling, Shiloh took in a couple of deep breaths. Standing up was the hard part, now all I have to do is take little steps. Legs trembling, threatening to give out from underneath her at any moment, Shiloh took the first step, keeping the stand close to her as she slowly moved into the bathroom.  
  
When she reached the sink she allowed for it to take her full weight as she leaned against the cool countertop. Turning on the water, she splashed it against her face and let out a small sigh of relief as she used her hands to cup the water and took a sip. Instantly she felt refreshed as the liquid ran down her throat. Shiloh remained sipping the water until she was certain he could feel it sloshing around in her stomach. Using a hand towel that was folded up in the corner of the counter to dry off her face and hands, she went back to the iv stand and crept back into the main room. Still no sign of nurses. _What was wrong with this place?_ Wrapping the thin hospital gown tightly around her frame, Shiloh walked to the door and placed her ear against the cool surface of the wood and listened for any sound. Nothing. Biting down on her lip nervously, Shiloh stepped away from the door and glanced around the room.  
  
Something wasn’t right and her gut instinct was telling her to stay inside the room. _Someone will come, see that you’re awake, and bring back food and notify your family. Everything will be alright as long as you stay inside the room._ Her brain kept telling her as she stood there, fighting herself as she looked at the door handle. _What if they don’t come, or what if the nurses already checked in on me and they don't come until tomorrow?_ With that thought in mind, Shiloh placed her hand on the door handle and opened it. Just as quickly as she opened it, she closed it and leaned her back against the wood. Something was definitely wrong. Her breathing became ragged and the trembling in her legs started once more as she tried to erase the images she had just seen from her head. What the hell happened here? Shiloh asked herself as she took in a couple more deep breaths and pushed back a few tears that had threatened to pool from her eyes.  
  
Looking around the room, she stumbled forwards, no longer taking it nice and slow like she had first planned. Something had happened to this hospital and Shiloh needed to get the hell out of here. Searching through a few cabinets, she found a syringe with a long, thin needle at the end of it. It would be a perfect weapon to protect herself with. Taking the protective cap off the end, Shiloh walked back to the door and took one last breath before opening it again. This time she was prepared for what she saw, but a small shudder still ran down her spine. Blood spattered the walls and ceiling, and at one point it looked as if someone who had been bleeding badly had been dragged down the hallway because a large, red stain was smeared straight down the hallway all the way to the end where it turned right and vanished from Shiloh’s sight. _Definitely not going that way._ Shiloh told herself as she turned left and headed down the hallway. What she had thought was the worst part, opening the door and seeing the blood, was far from it.  
  
As she crept down the hallway, keeping the iv stand in front of her but just to the right of her so that she didn’t trip over it, but making sure it could be used as a brief diversion incase something came at her, she moved forwards. Goosebumps formed on her skin as her bare feet connected with the cold tile, creating a loud slapping noise, and the thin hospital gown she wore wasn’t helping either. As she came to the waiting room her right hand shot up to cover her nose and mouth and the tears that she had fought to keep back flowed freely and the shock caused her to drop the only weapon she had. Bodies lay everywhere, some piled in corners while others were in the chairs, their heads tilted back or to the side, and their bodies at different parts of decay. Though she wanted to scream Shiloh remained silent as she left the iv stand where it was and ran straight towards the exit door that was just down another hallway. Adrenaline gave her the strength she needed to sprint to those doors and she quickly ran out of the hospital, falling to the grassy ground just across the street and leaving the contents of her stomach there, which wasn’t much.  
  
Wiping her mouth, Shiloh looked around and quickly got back to her feet, her eyes growing in horror. Just like the waiting room, bodies lay scattered about on the grass, some in an orderly fashion, lined up and their bodies in bags. Others, however, were left in piles or in dump trucks surrounding the hospital. This wasn’t good, not at all. Looking around her, she saw that there was not a living human in sight. _Get out of here!_ Her body screamed and Shiloh did as she was told, taking off in a full out sprint towards her apartment to call for help, not knowing that there would be no help coming.  
  
She had forgotten that she had been in a car accident, that the driver had t-boned her after running a red light. Shiloh had forgotten that she was driving home from work when that had happened, or that she was going back to her house to meet up with her boyfriend and go out to dinner that night. The coma she had been in lasted twp months, and it only took twp months for the world to go to shit.


	2. Chapter 2

Someone had to be chasing after her because there was no way that Shiloh could escape the hospital alive when so many others had not. Yet, as the hospital shrunk behind her, growing smaller with each step she took, all she could hear was her heavy breathing and the sound of her bare feet smacking the cracked pavement beneath her. There was no other sound, not someone else’s heavy breathing or their own footsteps echoing behind her and so, after rounding a third block, she slowed down to a stop and took a daring glance over her shoulder. Nothing. Shiloh swayed from side to side and she quickly leaned against the brick wall of the small flower shop she had come to rest at while the adrenaline vanished, leaving her in the weakened state she had woke up in. Her lungs felt like they were on fire and it made her chest feel tight and no matter how much oxygen she breathed in the sensation didn’t go away.

After Shiloh had lost track on how many minutes she had stood there, trying to catch her breath and allow her body some rest, she used her right shoulder to push off of the brick building and turned the corner. What had she missed while she had been sleeping? Cars stood still, scattered on the street and abandoned and it seemed like people had been in such a hurry that they had left the doors open and their items inside completely untouched. Shiloh moved past the empty cars and didn’t let her gaze rest on the skeletal forms in some of the vehicles. The moment she had stepped out of her hospital room Shiloh knew something was wrong but what she hadn’t realized was just how wrong everything was. The city was quiet, too quiet, and there was not another human soul in her line of sight. Windows were busted out in the shops lining both sides of the streets and cars stood empty and ownerless. A sense of panic grew over her that caused her to move into a sprint once more, not wanting to remain out in the open where someone could see her, if there was someone else out there.

Her parents. Shiloh needed to get to her parents, if she could find them then they could explain to her what had happened while she had been in the coma. They’d tell her that everything was fine and that nothing would happen to her. In case someone had been following her, Shiloh clung to the shadows like her life depended on it, taking her time and making sure the path ahead of her was clear. It was painstakingly slow for her, especially when she wanted nothing more then to reach her parents’ house and wrap her arms around them in a well needed hug but Shiloh would be patient and take her time so as not to make a mistake. A quiet sigh of relief escaped her parched lips as the large, iron gate came into view. Medowland Estates. The words arched along the iron in gold painting that was starting to peel away while the ‘w’ lay in the overgrown grass just to the left of the gates. Shiloh didn’t pay attention to that as she squeezed past the still slightly closed gates and inside the gated community and sprinted the last hundred yards to her house.

Just like the city, the neighborhood was deathly quiet. The Johnson’s house, her neighbors, was dark and the garage closed. Every day before this one, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson would have had his garage door up and the two of them would be outside working on their lawn or the garden and Shiloh would have said good afternoon or evening to them before she slipped into her own home. Now the house remained quiet and dark against the background of bright blue sky. Shiloh took note of this and paused at the top of her porch, taking a long look into the kitchen of the Johnson’s, looking for any sign of life within the shadows. They probably went somewhere safe. That was the only logical explanation that Shiloh had, but what exactly were they trying to be safe from? Seeing no movement coming from inside the house, Shiloh focused her attention back into her own home and lifted her hand to the doorknob and slowly turned it. Luckily for her it was unlocked and Shiloh slowly stepped inside the awaiting darkness.

“Mom? Dad?” Shiloh called out, surprised in her own voice as it came out calm. If someone was to see her though, calm would be the last word they would used to describe her. Her green eyes were wide with terror and her hands shook slightly. Pushing her terror down, she closed the door quietly behind her and stood, leaning against it as she caught her breath. “It’s me, Shiloh.” After waiting for a few minutes to see if anyone would come or at least call out but only receiving silence, she moved further into the house. Her head turned from side to side as she passed each room. The living room, empty. The kitchen, empty. Her dad’s study, empty. Moving up the stairs, Shiloh clung on to the rail as she kept her ears and eyes alert for any sound or movement that would indicate her parents were hiding somewhere. Maybe whatever happened in the city and the neighborhood forced them to hide or go somewhere safe, like the Johnson’s. If that was the case then Shiloh could only pray that her parents left her a note or a clue as to where they had gone.

Reaching the first bedroom, her bedroom, Shiloh poked her head inside. It was the same like when she had left for school the same day the accident happened. Her full sized bed was neatly made, a few articles of clothing lay, scattered, around the floor from the previous day yet to be tossed into the hamper resting in the corner closest to her closet. On her desk there lay a few notebooks and her history book that she had forgotten that day, now covered in dust. It seemed like no one had been in her room for the whole six weeks she had been gone. Closing the door softly, she moved away from her room and tiptoed towards her parents’ at the end of the hallway. Their door was closed, and Shiloh had to use her shoulder to get it to open as something was blocking it from the other side. “Mom? Dad? It’s me Shiloh, you can open the door!” Shiloh said through gritted teeth as she gave one more good push and the dresser that had been pushed it front of it gave way and she was able to open the door.

What happened next Shiloh wasn’t entirely sure. Something came at her, snarling and clipping its teeth together right by her right ear. Letting out a sudden high pitched scream as she was pushed backwards, her legs unable to support the weight of her attacker as she crashed to the ground. Shiloh’s head connected with the wood flooring beneath her and for a moment all she could see was blackness. When the pain in her head diminished and her eyes were able to refocus, they met the clouded, blank gaze of her mother’s own eyes as a snarl erupted from her mouth while her hands reached for Shiloh’s face. “Mom! Please stop, it’s me, Shiloh!” she pleaded with her mom, trying to get her to back off but something was obviously wrong with her mother. Tears streaked her cheeks as she kept her mom’s face away from her own, using her hands to push against her mom’s shoulders and ensuring she didn’t get her arms or hands too close to her mom’s teeth. Something told her that if Shiloh was bitten herself something bad would happen. 

Using the last bit of strength she could muster Shiloh wrapped her legs around her mother’s waist and swung to the left. The momentum and her weight combined caused the pair to flip with Shiloh now being on top of her mother where she pinned her moms flailing arms on either side by pressing her legs down on top of them. “Snap out of it!” Shiloh snapped at her mother, landing a punch on her moms cheek, the blow sending her head sharply to the right. Shiloh’s mother was unaffected by the hit and so Shiloh struck her again. “Snap out of it!” she was practically yelling at her mother now, Shiloh’s voice breaking the quietness of the house as she struck her mother once more. It was phasing her mother and finally, Shiloh stood up on shaky legs and backed up. When her mother came at her, Shiloh squared her shoulders and ran straight at her mother. Using the momentum she had gathered, she took a running start and pushed her mom over the balcony, her eyes closed the entire time and they remained closed until she heard a thud. For a long time Shiloh remained still, listening for any snarling that came from the floor below but there was not a sound coming from below. Wiping the fresh tears away from her eyes, Shiloh moved forwards and peered down at the hallway below where her moms body lay, a large gash on the side of her head from where the corner of a small decorative table had connected with it. “I’m sorry.” Shiloh whispered as she turned away from the sight and moved back towards her room.

There was no way she could stay inside the house, not after killing her mother and a little while later finding her father half eaten in the same room where her mother had been locked inside. Shiloh wasn’t entirely certain what was going on, but her mother was not her mother anymore and it had to take a fall and a hit to the head to stop her. After changing out of the hospital gown and into something more comfortable, Shiloh gathered a few more articles of clothing and then went downstairs, stepping over her mothers body and moving into the kitchen where she drank four bottles of water and packed the rest, six bottles total, in the same bag that her clothes were in along with any food that had yet to go bad, mainly crackers and canned vegetables, and slung it over her shoulder. Going through the cabinets, she found a package of matches and stuffed them into her pocket before grabbing the largest kitchen knife she could find and slipping it into her right combat boot where, if she needed it, she could reach it with ease. Making her way into her father’s study, Shiloh saw that his safe was open and reached inside, pulling out the Beretta M9 semiautomatic pistol and slipped it in the waistband of her jeans before tossing the bullets into the bag for later use.

Shiloh made her way slowly back to the front of the house and paused. Her green eyes locked on the doorknob of the front door and she bit down on the bottom of her lip as she looked back over her shoulder. From where she stood she could only see her moms feet sticking around the corner where she lay, dead, and tears once again started to form at the corners of her eyes. What the hell had happened while she had been in a coma? That was the answer Shiloh wanted to find out. A part of her wanted to find out the truth but another part of her wanted to be back in the coma when she remembered all the good things in life and everything was normal. Taking one last sweep of her house, she opened the door and took a cautious glance around before she stepped off the porch and took off running down the street. There was no way she was going back inside the city, not with the possibility of running into others like her mom. No, she would skirt the edge of it, find a place to lay low for a while until she figured out what was going on. There’s got to be others out there like me, trying to figure out what happened or at least know what’s going on. Shiloh thought to herself as she picked her way carefully down the street. This time Shiloh wasn’t panicked or freaking out and running blindly through the streets like she had done when she left the hospital, not after finding her father half eaten and her mother some sort of monster who had fed off of him like some cannibal.

Shiloh walked for hours it seemed, pausing every so often to take a sip of her water before moving on. Everywhere she went there was destruction and not a single sign of life where she passed. There was a few times where she came across bodies, some already bones while others were just starting to rot. As many bodies that there lay dead, there were even more who weren’t. Shiloh quickly noticed that they looked and acted much like her mother had been doing so before she had pushed her over the balcony. Glazed eyes, making growling or groaning sounds, and chasing after her once they spotted her with their teeth clicking together as if they were ripping her flesh from where they stood. What Shiloh noticed about some of these people though, was the way their skin seemed to have been ripped off in places where others had taken a chunk out them. Even a few looked as if their skin was rotting. Either way it was an unpleasant sight and Shiloh quickly moved on at a jog seeing as many just lumbered forwards at a slow walk. 

By nightfall she had reached a smaller town just outside the city limits and quickly found a small house nestled between two larger apartment complexes and after a quick sweep of the inside, found it to be completely empty of both human and nonhuman alike. The house was surrounded by a chain link fence and it seemed to do the job keeping the mindless creatures out so it was a bonus for Shiloh. Closing the door behind her and locking it, she moved about the house and locked every window and pulled the curtains so that nothing could see her and closed any room that wasn’t being used for added measure. After ensuring that she had done everything she possibly could have to avoid anything getting to her, she set her bag down on the large, brown leather couch and slumped down beside it. The house had nothing for food, and Shiloh didn’t want to risk starting a fire or cooking something that would attract unwanted attention so she nibbled on a few crackers. After that she went into one room and grabbed the comforter and pillow from the bed and closed the door once more before she sat back down on the couch and curled up underneath the blanket. Her mind was still buzzing with everything that had happened that day, from the moment she woke up to where she was at now, in some strangers house using their couch, blanket, pillow, and the entirety of the house. There was many questions that was running through her head that she wished she knew the answers to, but Shiloh was taking it one step at a time, doing what she thought was right in order to remain alive and breathing. “Tomorrow’s a new day.” Shiloh told herself quietly as she grew comfortable in the couch, ready to stay up all night and take watch so that nothing attacked her during the night. As much as she wanted to remain vigilant and alert, exhaustion started to creep up on her and for a while she fought the feeling, shaking her head and moving every so often to keep the blood flowing through her body but eventually even that wasn't doing the trick. Slowly her eyes started to drift close and before long she was fast asleep while just outside her door the dead continued their search for a fresh meal not realizing that there was one just behind the door.


End file.
